Alleged Shooter in Afghanistan Massacre Identified

Staff Sgt Robert Bales (L) and another soldier at a training center in Fort Irwin, CA in 2011. United States Army(FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan.) –The U.S. soldier accused of going on a rampage and killing 16 Afghan civilians as they slept in their houses has been identified as Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, ABC News confirmed Friday.

Bales, 38, a husband and father of two, was serving on his fourth combat deployment in 10 years, the first three in Iraq. He was on his first tour in Afghanistan, where he’d been since December.

Bales is being transported to Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where he is expected to face formal charges on 16 counts of murder possibly as early as Saturday.